The Girl Of Many Sweaters
by Groovy-RooSta
Summary: After the ending of Lily and Severus' friendship, Lily finds herself struggling with all the things she could deal with before; Feeling worlds away from her parents, encountering many battles with her sister and braving Hogwarts by herself. All she's able to do now is grip the sleeves of her sweater as the brewing war escalates sending Lily's world tumbling with it.
1. Chapter 1

The Girl of Many Sweaters

Lily Evans was always cold, it didn't matter the time of year, through summer and winter she was always wrapped in a sweater or cloak. Her parents rationalized it with the traditional England weather, her sister blamed it on her being a freak, her teachers never seemed to notice and her classmates didn't seem to care. If Lily could chase away the chill with a warm embrace of a close friend she would, but she had lost her closest friend, and once you lose your best friend it's hard to replace their warmth.

Summers were the worst for Lily though; summer was the time for seeing friends, spending all your time with them. Summer was the time for carefree laughter and picnics in the woods. However summer for Lily meant lonely nights and hostile days.

Lily lay in the grass of her backyard and stared into the cloudy, grey sky. It was days like this that she wished to just forgive Severus, to get on with their lives. She wished she could walk to his house and they could spend the morning in the park picking flowers, or the afternoons at the beaches. But deep down she knew she couldn't, she could never forgive him for the prejudice she had placed on him. And it was days like this she had realized the prejudice she had placed on others as well. Her friendship with the Slytherin had ostracized her from her fellow house mates, or maybe her friendship had caused her to ostracize them.

She knew they all liked her well enough, after her fight with Snape they had all come up to console her, they'd brought her dinner and sent him nasty looks. But that was it; they didn't invite her over for the summer nor did she ask. She could never enter their group and feel as if she was truly accepted. She was an outside, it was self inflicted but too late to change.

Sighing Lily rolled over, nose in the dirt she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It wasn't till dusk that Patrick Evans popped his head out the back door; he frowned as he saw his youngest daughter lying in the dirt. Opening the door the rest of the way he walked the short distance from the house to his baby girl. His frown deepened as he kneeled down next to her. As a child when Lily was upset she would always do the same thing, storm outside, plop down in the garden and then lay there till one of her parents made her come inside, many times she would dose off only to have her father carry her up to bed or wake her up for dinner.

That had been the pre- Hogwarts days, and Mr. Evans hadn't seen it happen since. However the summer after her 5th year she had done it every day. This summer it had yet to change. It worried Patrick to see his daughter lying in the dirt. He had almost pulled her out of that curious school after the first summer, his wife had convinced him to let her continue. Now he wondered if he had made the right choice. As Lily's father he was supposed to protect her, yet there was so much he didn't understand about her world. It hurt his heart to see Lily suffer.

Wiping away a stray tear Patrick Evans did what he hadn't done in a while, he bent down and scouped his daughter up in his arms. He had gotten older since Lily was a child, and she had gotten bigger, but Mr. Evans didn't mind. Slowly he made his way to the back door.

He knew it must have looked wonky to his eldest daughters boyfriend, to see Mr. Evans carrying his sleeping 16 year old daughter to bed; Mr. Evans didn't care about the thoughts of such boys though. He ignored Vernon's glance as he walked up the stairs to Lily's room. One day the lad would have his own children and then he would understand.

Laying Lily down in her bed he tucked her in, she mumbled and rolled toward the wall. Sitting on the corner of her bed Patrick stroked her disheveled hair. He wondered when she two would bring a boy home to meet the family; he worried of what type of boy it would be. One thing he was sure of though, none of them would be good enough for her, none of them would love her the way he and Rose did. Petunia and Lily were the Evans lives, Patrick loved them more than life itself.

"Now to get back down to dinner," he mumbled to his sleeping daughter as he stood back up. Just as no boy was good enough for Lily, no boy came close for Petunia either, but she really liked the block down stairs, Vernon Dursley was his name, they'd been dating for a year and a half. Petunia was sure he was the one. As he made his way down stairs Patrick shook his head to get the though away. His daughters were way too young to be thinking about marriage!

* * *

**If someone would like to explain to me how to actually create bigger gaps in my story instead of using the line it would be great, thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: 

There were a lot of things in life that Lily Evans hated, she hated spiders and bogerts, she detested nargles, bologna was her least favorite food in the world, and if she lived to never see another morning she would not mind. However currently on the top of her list of things she couldn't stand would be 'Vernon Dursley' written very largely and very boldly. It just so happened that Lily was currently awake a lot early than she would have preferred sitting in a restaurant waiting for said person to show up.

A "family occasion" her parents had said.

"One day you'll understand," her mother had told her.

But if being forced to sit at a table with a buffoon whom she hated while running on very little sleep wasn't enough to put Lily in an off mood, his family sure would.

Lily set her head on a table with a groan. Vernon Dursley's family was sure to be just as ignorant as he himself was, and this was something she had to endure by herself! Patrick and Rose Evans were overjoyed at the thought of both families meeting but it spelled out trouble to Lily.

* * *

The Breakfast Bar was a small, family owned restraint nestled down town, it was also a family tradition to have breakfast here on special occasions. It irked Lily that they were having the breakfast here just as much as it seemed to irk Petunia that Lily was there at all.

"Oh please mummy," Petunia whined, "Lily doesn't even want to be here, can't she leave?"

Mrs. Evans did not look pleased at her eldest daughter's request. As Mr. Evans spoke to the waiter Rose leaned forward to speak to her daughter.

"If Vernon has such a problem with your sister then maybe you guys shouldn't be dating."

Petunia huffed and glared at her sister as her mother turned back to the waiter as well.

"What?" Lily asked in annoyance once she caught her sister staring at her, "It's not my fault."

Petunia just rolled her eyes and murmured quietly about how she was related to a freak.

It didn't take long for the Dursley's to arrive; they showed up just as the waiter brought the Evans their drinks. Lily sipped on her sweet tea as she took in the family that walked towards them. Mrs. Dursley was a plump woman with thick black hair. Her thin lips were pursed in annoyance and she walked with her nose in the air.

Mr. Dursly was a tall, thin man, with a thick black mustache. His hair was neatly trimmed and slicked back. His face was long and he looked as if he didn't particularly enjoy being there. Lily smiled, thinking that she and this man might just be in the same boat.

Marjorie Dursley was, if it was humanly possible to be, slightly bigger than her younger brother Vernon. She waddled with her enormous chest upward and bottom pressed outward. She was talking over her should at her Vernon whom brought up the rear.

The whole family was overdressed, it looked as if they were wearing church cloths, their shoes were shined up. Lily wondered if she'd be able to see her reflection in them, or if they had used a particular spell to get them that shiny. She giggled a bit at the thought of Vernon with anything magical.

Patrick looked at his giggling daughter and raised an eyebrow.

"Something funny flower?" he asked in a whisper.

"Oh, nothing daddy" Lily answered in a singsong voice as Petunia shot her another look.

Mr. Evans gave Lily a knowing look before he stood up to shake hands.

Rose Evans stood up only to be embraced by Mrs. Dursley, Mr. Dursley gave her hand a quick squeeze, Marjorie gave a bit of a curtsy to Rose and Vernon went in for another hug. The line proceeded down toward Patric, Mrs. Evans shoved her hand up toward Mr. Evans face, bewildered he grabbed it and gave it a little shake. Mrs. Dursley looked just as bewildered at his reaction. Mr. Dursley gave Patrick a firm handshake and nod of the head, Marjorie seemed to ignore Mr. Evans completely, Vernon followed in his father's pursuit before they all got to Petunia.

Many hugs, kisses and gossip were exchanged between them all and Lily wondered if this was normal behavior for Dursley family.

Mrs. Dursley sat down across from Lily, Mr. Dursley looked at her standing there and gave her a bit of a chuckle before he too sat down. When Lily realized that the greeting wouldn't be extended to her as well she awkwardly sat down and looked toward her father. The man gave a helpless shake before he turned back to the family.

The talk at the table all seemed to bore Lily, the families were going on about school, the weather, and every other boring topic Lily could ever think of. She wasn't able to jump into any conversation because it seemed most of them were deliberately steered away from her. The only time she was able to get a word in at all was when the waiter came and took the table's food order.

Lily slouched down in her chair and leaned her head on her hands as she glanced out the windows. She started to daydream that the pedestrians passing by were all witches and wizards and she was imagining what houses they would be in.

_'Lily,'_

She squinted her eyes to get a better look, was that…

_'Lily,'_

No, what would they possibly be doing in muggle London?

"LILY!"

Lily gave a start and turned toward her mother,

"Yes, sorry?" She asked her mum, the table all had their eyes on her.

"Oh honey, the Dursleys were just asking about your schooling."

Lily looked at Petunia, whom seemed to be begging her with her eyes.

"Oh, it's going great. Arithmetic seems to be my downfall though." She joked lamely.

Lily's father gave her a big grin, "Ah, the family curse!" he said as he nodded at the table.

"It comes with the job. I'm an English professor." He said conversationally to the Dursleys.

"Uh, mum?" Lily asked unsure, "Do you mind if I'm excused for a second?" She started to stand up before getting a proper answer. She folded her napkin and head for the door at her mother's will.

* * *

It was bright and sunny outside, it took Lily a second to get used to the light. She shielded her eyes and turned to the left, then the right. Sure enough walking through the crowd were two boys about Lily's age. She jogged to catch up to them.

"Remus!" She called out as she was bustled through the crowd. One of the boys turned in her direct, the sun turned his sandy hair golden and as he caught Lily's eyes he waved.

The second boy turned as he noticed his companion was no longer paying attention to him. He gave a smile as he caught sight of who had disturbed his conversation.

"LILY-BILLY!" He yelled excitedly and took off at a hearty trot, his long dark hair was disheveled from the wind.

It took Lily by surprise when the boy scooped her up and spun her around, "Lily, I've missed you!" She laughed a bit at the males' excitement.

"Put me down Sirius," She demanded lightly as Remus stopped beside them.

"He Lily," Remus said lightly, giving her a big hug, "How's your summer been?"

* * *

The group talked and joked about as they made their way back toward the restraint.

"So," Lily said, rolling her eyes a bit, "I'm hoping my mum will let me leave early. Ya know, now that you guys are here."

Sirius peered into the window of the bar, "Can't I come in?" he asked, giving Lily a bit of his puppy dog eyes. "These Dursleys sound SOOOO interesting" he mumbled, his look turning into a devious one.

"NO!" Lily snapped, "You wait right here." She said, motioning toward the space in front of the window.

"No problem Lily, but won't your sister get offended if you leave the family breakfast?" Remus asked a bit concerned.

Lily just laughed as she walked into the restraint. She made her way over toward the table her family sat at.

"It's not really your fault deer," Mrs. Dursly was saying as she patted Lily's mothers hand. "there's a bad apple in almost every family."

Lily's father looked angry at the comment while her mother looked confused.

"I mean we can't be blamed if our children turn out rotten. We can try our best but it just doesn't always work."

Petunia's eyes widen when she saw Lily standing near the table. Anger started to swell in Lilys chest. Her parents looked at her in shock, as if she'd just materialized.

"Well," Lily said rather loudly behind the Dursleys. They jumped at the sound of her voice. Oh how she wanted to hex the whole family.

"I didn't realize you were so empathetic Dursley." She said rather un-enthusiastically.

"But don't worry, I've found a couple of friends so I'll be leaving this… Exciting breakfast early." She made her way around the table to grab her purse.

"Oh, Lily honey, don't leave." Her mother said as she reached out to grab her arm. Lily didn't even take notice as she turned around to head toward the door.


End file.
